US airstrikes hit Iran after tankers attacked in Hormuz
Iran's military headquarters threatened a "crushing response" after US warplanes bombed more than 80 targets in the third round of tit-for-tat attacks since the ceasefire.
WASHINGTON — The US military overnight on Tuesday bombed sites in Iran for the third time since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April, the Pentagon’s Middle East headquarters announced.
The strikes on what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were more than 80 military targets came after three commercial tankers separately reported having been hit by projectiles while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
"US forces struck Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, anti-ship capabilities and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats in and near the strait," CENTCOM said following the pre-dawstrikes before
The aim of the US strikes was to "impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” US CENTCOM said earlier on Tuesday as the strikes began.
Qatar's government on Tuesday accused Iran of liability for targeting an LNG tanker, Al Ruqayyat, which earlier reported it had been hit by a drone. The Ruqayyat was the first Qatari vessel reported to have been hit since the conflict began. It was transiting the strait via a route close to the Omani coast when it was hit. A Saudi Arabia-flagged tanker, the M/T Wedyan and a Liberian flagged tanker the M/T Cyprus prosperity, also reported being hit on Tuesday.
CENTCOM called the attacks "unwarranted aggression" and "a dangerous violation of the ceasefire" by Iran.
Iran has not explicitly claimed credit for the latest drone attacks, but has repeatedly warned ships not to cross Hormuz via routes that it has not approved.
The strikes on the tankers drew condemnation from the Trump administration. An administration official noted to reporters on Tuesday just prior to the strikes that US negotiators would continue to engage in dialogue with the Iranian side over ending the war, but said there would be consequences for the attacks on shipping.
The Iranian Armed Forces' Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters accused the US of violating the ceasefire in an act of "aggression" by carrying out the strikes, promising a "crushing response" and saying it would not allow the US to "interfere" with its management of traffic via the strait.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it had revoked its oil sanctions waiver that it had previously issued as part of a mutual 60-day detente over the strait aimed at allowing negotiators to reach an end to the war.
Whether the US Navy would resume its blockade and interception of seaborne Iranian oil exports in conjunction with the waiver's revocation was not immediately clear.
This story has been updated since initial publication.
